After successfully recruiting Karui, the female Chunin from the Cloud Village, Charles Doyle exited the system space.
He then confirmed that Shizune was not conducting any experiments or on a mission and immediately upgraded her star level to enhance her strength.
With these tasks completed, Charles glanced at his remaining gold, just over fifty thousand, and entered the system-provided practice ground to master the newly acquired ninjutsu.
…
Nightfall-
As darkness enveloped the city, crime and evil lurked in its shadowy corners.
At this moment, Eddie Brock, transformed into Venom, perched atop a skyscraper's top, looking down at the brightly lit city below.
"Beautiful. I'm starting to like Earth more and more," Venom said.
Eddie responded, "From this angle, New York does indeed look different."
After admiring the view for a few minutes, Venom spoke, "Let's go. It's time to clean up some of this city's filth and fill my empty stomach."
Eddie quickly objected, "I'm fine with cleaning them up, but can you stop eating their heads? It's really gross."
"How about chocolate?"
"My income has been pretty good lately. Maybe you can try a different brand."
"How about Lindt?"
Venom refused, "They're bad people, Eddie."
"You promised I could eat the heads of bad guys."
"No, it has to be supervillains. Some of these are just small-time criminals; they don't deserve to die."
"How about a box of Lindt? It's one of the world's top ten chocolate brands."
"Five boxes!"
"Man, that stuff isn't cheap. How about two boxes?"
Venom considered Eddie's income and then said, "Four boxes, no less."
"Three boxes, tops. Or we'll go home and rest. I'm not in the mood for exercise today."
"And eating heads makes you look like a villain. What if you attract the Avengers or other superheroes? Earth isn't as simple as you think."
Hearing this, Venom thought about the numerous superheroes and ninjas around. It really wasn't safe.
"Alright, three boxes it is."
"Let's go then!"
Venom took control of Eddie, leaping from the building's top.
"Whooaaah!"
With Eddie's scream, Venom acted like a runaway husky, performing various stunts as they descended.
"Boom!"
After landing, Venom returned control to Eddie Brock and retracted into his body.
Eddie rubbed his cheeks and said, "That was thrilling!"
…
In a Brooklyn warehouse, dozens of Mexican immigrants, smuggled in from the US-Mexico border to New York, were being held captive.
A man dressed like a Wall Street elite was on the phone, "Mr. Z, I have thirty goods here, ages 14 to 21, all parts intact. You can match them as needed, sell them whole, or in parts."
"I believe those aged luxury cars need quite a few new parts to extend their lifespan."
"The price remains the same as before."
"Cheaper? Impossible. You know this business is risky."
"Southeast Asia's network was destroyed by superheroes. Getting these people wasn't easy."
"Whole car for 100, no selling parts. How much you profit from it is up to you."
"But I can give you some ideas. Once you have the car, you can run it through various loan platforms for a significant profit."
"Next, contact luxury car owners in need of parts for full matches. That's the big money."
"Drain and sell the fuel and oil. Not much, but it adds up."
"If no match is found, invite some elderly rich women for test drives until a match is found."
"With all these steps, your investment could easily multiply."
"Alright, it's settled then."
…
A gang member guarding the warehouse, armed with an AK, turned to his partner, "Buddy, the High Table ordered no human trafficking, especially not organ trafficking."
"Isn't the boss in trouble for doing this?"
"Don't worry. The boss has connections. No one cares."
"The boss might even get promoted for this."
Hearing this, the guard's eyes gleamed with greed, "I know where there are more like them. Can I catch some for money?"
"Buddy, it's not that simple. "
"Randomly catching people could get you caught by superheroes. Didn't you notice the boss only picked illegal immigrants?"
"Do your job. When the time comes, you'll get your share."
…
While the guards were chatting, the warehouse's glass windows shattered on both sides simultaneously.
Eddie, as Venom, burst through the window, punching a gang member and sending him flying five meters.
An arrow pierced through another window, instantly killing the questioning guard.
"Enemy attack!"
In the warehouse, the other gang members immediately raised their rifles and fired at Venom.
"Ratatatat!"
The gang leader, who had been on the phone, saw Venom appear and quickly threw a smoke grenade. He opened a secret door and escaped underground, running outside.
Eddie, as Venom, ignored the incoming bullets and launched an attack.
Outside the warehouse, Hawkeye Barton stood by the window, occasionally shooting arrows at the gang members below.
"Ahhh!"
The screams of the gang members echoed in the warehouse.
Seeing that they couldn't harm the monster, one of the gang members took advantage of the smoke cover and rushed to the cage holding the captives. He held a grenade with the pin pulled and shouted:
"Stop! Stop right now!"
"Or I'll blow these people up!"
Hearing his shout, Eddie and Barton both halted their attacks.
As the smoke from the grenade slowly dispersed, it became clear that all the other gang members had been killed, leaving only the man with the grenade.
Eddie approached him cautiously, speaking quickly, "Calm down, calm down."
"Put the pin back in; otherwise, you'll die too when it explodes."
"Stop! Don't come any closer."
"If you get closer, I'll throw the grenade into the cage. If I die, they die too."
"And you with the bow outside, stop aiming at me. If I get nervous, I'll let go."
Eddie glanced at Barton by the window. He had noticed him earlier, but since he was attacking the gang members, Eddie hadn't paid much attention.
Now, seeing him more clearly, he recognized Barton as Hawkeye from the Avengers, a superhero.
Barton didn't lower his bow but said, "A grenade with a pin. It takes three to six seconds to explode after release."
This wasn't addressed to the thug but to Eddie.
As Barton spoke, he released the bowstring, and an arrow with an electric tip shot out instantly.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow hit the thug, and the electric current immediately paralyzed him. His clenched hand couldn't let go of the grenade.
As the thug fell, Eddie rushed over. Seeing the thug still gripping the grenade, Eddie transformed his hand into a blade and severed the thug's hand at the wrist. He grabbed the hand holding the grenade and quickly threw it into the sky.
"Boom!"
The grenade exploded high in the air, harming no one.
Eddie returned to the warehouse, still in his Venom form.
"Hawkeye, do you realize how dangerous that was? If he had let go early, these people would have been in great danger."
Barton, unperturbed, replied, "Don't worry, buddy. You were here, weren't you?"
"I trusted your ability, so I took the risk."
"The result was perfect. We coordinated very well."
Barton explained as he started retrieving his arrows.
Eddie, as a journalist, was dissatisfied with such a perfunctory answer.
"What if I wasn't here?"
"And I thought SHIELD agents didn't handle gang matters. Why are you involved?"
Having retrieved all his arrows except the last one, Barton replied, "I would prioritize the hostages' safety."
He then looked at Eddie and said, "SHIELD doesn't deal with gangs. That's for other departments."
"But besides being a SHIELD agent, I'm also an Avenger and a superhero."
"As a superhero, it's my duty to handle this."
Eddie nodded, satisfied with this answer.
He then looked at the thirty young men in the cage and asked, "What about these people?"
Barton took out his phone, "Call the police. They'll handle it."
Eddie was surprised, thinking SHIELD would take over.
Barton quickly called the Brooklyn police, explaining the situation and identifying himself as a SHIELD agent, urging them to handle the aftermath promptly.
After hanging up, Barton saw Eddie about to leave and removed his last electric arrow, saying, "We still have a live one. Are you interested in the forces behind them?"
"I saw their boss escape."
Barton approached the secret door, opening the underground passage.
As the electric shock was over, the gang member hit by the arrow regained consciousness, clutching his severed hand and screaming in pain, "My hand! My hand!"
Eddie, ready to leave, turned back at Barton's words.
"Such an evil organization should be destroyed."
"But we should find a better place to talk. Can you keep up with my speed?"
Eddie stretched out his arm, extending it three meters, and grabbed the fallen gang member, quickly running outside.
Seeing Eddie run off, Barton glanced at one of the youths in the cage, giving him a signal before following.
One of the captives was actually a SHIELD undercover agent.
Barton secured his bow and chased after Eddie.
Eddie, carrying the gang member, ran towards the East River, arriving at an isolated riverside area. He placed the gang member on the shore.
As the gang member tried to run, Eddie pinned him down.
"Don't try to escape. You won't make it."
Barton finally caught up, slightly out of breath, "Buddy, you're fast. I barely kept up."
Eddie replied, "Didn't know you were enhanced. Keeping up with me is impressive."
They then interrogated the gang member, but he was surprisingly stubborn.
"Kill me. Without my hand, I'm just a cripple. You'll get nothing from me."
Eddie bared his terrifying, toothy mouth, "Death is a release."
"I'll start by cutting off your arm and slowly chew it, like eating a chicken leg."
"If you still don't talk, I'll eat your limbs. Watching yourself being eaten piece by piece will surely make you spill everything."
The gang member's face turned to terror, and even Barton looked surprised at Eddie's words.